How to…
Check your BW system before
Go-Live
BUSINESS INFORMATION WAREHOUSE
ASAP “How to…” Paper
Applicable Releases: BW 2.0B, 2.1C
July 2001
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
1 Business Scenario
A customer is getting ready to Go-Live with their BW system. They would like to check the system to
make sure that some important settings have been maintained.
2 The Result
Use the following checklist as a guide to check your BW system prior to going into production. This
checklist is designed to give you an overview of some common settings that need to be maintained
but are sometimes overlooked and is not inclusive. Several other sources of information are available
including the BW ASAP Methodology, and Going Live checks performed by the TCC group.
3 The Step By Step Solution
1. Transfer global settings. Goto
Administrator Workbench ->
Modeling -> Source Systems. Select
an R/3 source system -> right-click
and choose Transfer global settings.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
Select Currencies and choose a transfer
mode.
Simulation - The transfer of
Customizing tables/exchange rates is
simulated. No data is updated.
Update tables - The Customizing
tables/exchange rates are collected from
the source system. The new entries are
updated on the database.
Rebuild tables - The Customizing
tables/exchange rates are collected from
the source system. The tables are rebuilt,
old data is deleted.
Then Execute.
Repeat these steps for Units of
measurement, Fiscal year variants, and
Factory calendar for each R/3 source
system in BW.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
2. Transfer exchange rates. Goto
Administrator Workbench ->
Modeling -> Source Systems. Select
an R/3 source system -> right-click
and choose Transfer exchange rates.
Maintain Exchange rates and the
transfer mode.
Simulation - The transfer of
Customizing tables/exchange rates is
simulated. No data is updated.
Update exchange rates - The
Customizing tables/exchange rates are
collected from the source system. The
new entries are updated on the
database.
Transfer exchange rates again - The
Customizing tables/exchange rates are
collected from the source system. The
tables are rebuilt, old data is deleted.
Then Execute.
Repeat these steps for each R/3 source
system in BW.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
3. Maintain the permitted extra
characters. Goto -> SAP Easy
Access Menu -> SAP menu -> BW
Administration -> Permitted
Characters. Another path is
transaction SPRO -> SAP Reference
IMG -> BW Customizing
Implementation Guide -> Business
Information Warehouse -> General
BW Settings -> Maintain permitted
extra characters, or use transaction
RSKC.
4. Release the BW function modules
that are required for web reporting.
This step is for system security
purposes and is done by your
Technical Administrator. The
function modules that must be
released are listed to the right.

WEBQUERY (for BEx web queries - WebRFC)

RSBB_WWW_BROWSER_GATE (Browser)

RSBB_WWW_BROWSER_TREE (Browser)

RSBB_WWW_NODES_READ (Browser)

RSBB_WWW_NODES_SEARCH (Browser)

RSBB_WWW_TITLEBAR (Browser)

WWW_ALV_CALL (InfoSet web queries)

WWW_ALV_SELSCREEN (InfoSet web queries)

FLOW_LOGIC_ALV_CALL (InfoSet web queries)
From the SAP Easy Access menu, choose
SAP menu -> Tools -> Business
Engineer -> BW Customizing –
(transaction SPRO)-> SAP Reference
IMG -> Business Information
Warehouse -> Reporting-relevant
Settings -> Web Reporting -> Releasing
the Function Module for Web Reporting
-> select Internet Release from the menu > Function Modules. Release.
Note: The local web browser must be
set to accept "per session" cookies;
otherwise, the user will get "Invalid
Session" error message when starting
the BEx Browser for the Web. The local
web browser must also support the
execution of JavaScript.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
5. Check the read mode for queries.
For a query, the OLAP processor can
read the data from the fact table in one
of three ways:
Reading all of the data
When executing the query in the
Business Explorer all of the fact table
data that is needed for all possible
navigational steps in the query, is read
in the main memory area of the OLAP
processor. Therefore, all new
navigational states are aggregated and
calculated from the data of the main
memory.
Reading the data on demand
The OLAP processor only requests the
corresponding fact table data that is
needed for each navigational state of the
query in the Business Explorer.
Therefore, new data is read for each
navigational step. The most suitable
aggregate table is used and, if possible,
already aggregated on the database. The
data for identical navigational states are
buffered in the OLAP processor.
Reading on demand when expanding
the hierarchy
When reading data on demand (2), the
data for the entire - meaning completely
expanded - hierarchy is requested for a
hierarchy drilldown. For the read on
demand when expanding the hierarchy
(3), the data is aggregated by the
database along the hierarchy and is sent
to the start level of the hierarchy
(highest node) in the OLAP processor.
When expanding a hierarchy node, the
children of the node are then
respectively read on demand.
In general, the reading of data on
demand (2) provides much better
performance than reading all the data
(1). This read mode should especially be
considered for queries with many, free
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
characteristics. A query that contains
two or more free characteristics from
different dimensions (e.g. 'Customer'
and 'Product'), will probably only be
efficiently executable in this mode, as
the aggregates can only be optimally
used when reading the data on demand.
For large hierarchies, aggregates should
be created on the middle level of the
hierarchy and the start level of the
query should be smaller or the same as
this aggregate level. For queries about
such large hierarchies, the read on
demand when expanding the hierarchy
method (3) should be set.
Execute transaction RSRT and enter
=RMRP into the OK field. After
choosing Return, the read mode of your
queries is the read mode recommended
by SAP.
6. Switch off all system traces. Execute
transaction ST01. Trace status
should be set to “Trace switched
off”.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
Check trace tool. Goto transaction
RSRTRACE. Verify there are no users
activated for logging. Users can be
removed by selecting the User -> select
Deactivate user.
Check BW Reporting Authorization
Check Log. Goto transaction RSSM ->
Authorizaton Check Log. Select a user
to remove -> Remove User from List.
7. Check number ranges for
aggregates.
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When you activate an aggregate, a number is generated
from number range object RSDDAGCUBE. When you
first activate the aggregate, this number range has no
interval assigned. If you activate the aggregate
manually, the interval is created. The activation process
in the after-import method after the transport is
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
generally executed in client '000'. For technical reasons
it is not possible to create a number range interval in a
client other than the BW client.
Execute program
RSDDK_AGGR_CREATE_INTERVAL_
20B in transaction SA38.
Otherwise, you must either manually
activate the first aggregate in a new
system or you must create an interval
for the number range object in Number
Range Object Maintenance (Transaction
SNUM). The range must be defined as
follows:
No = '01'; From number = '100000'; To
number = '199999'; Current number ='0'.
Note that you must create the interval in
the client in which the BW is operating.
Check Indexes and DB statistics for each
InfoCube. Goto transaction RSA11 ->
select an InfoCube -> right-click and
choose Manage -> select Performance
tab. Indices can be deleted before the
load process by using Delete indexes
and recreated after the loading is
finished with Repair indexes. This
accelerates the data loading. However,
simultaneous read processes to a cube
are negatively influenced as they slow
down dramatically. Therefore, this
method should only be used if no read
processes take place during the data
loading. Statistics information can be
automatically updated after the load
process is finished following the same
process used for indices. This is
generally recommended. Only if very
little data is loaded (in comparison to
the quantity of that which already
exists), then this option should be
avoided. These processes should be run
automatically on a scheduled basis.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
8. Maintain the extraction settings for
each source system. In R/3 source
system goto transaction SBIW ->
General Settings -> Maintain
Control Parameters for Data
Transfer.
1. Source System
Enter the logical system of your source
client and assign the control parameters
you selected to it.
You can find further information on the
source client in the source system by
choosing the transaction SCC4.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
2. Maximum Size of the Data Packet
When you transfer data into BW, the
individual data records are sent in
packets of variable size. You can use
these parameters to control how large a
typical data packet like this is. If no
entry was maintained then the data is
transferred with a default setting of
10,000 kBytes per data packet. The
memory requirement not only depends
on the settings of the data packet, but
also on the size of the transfer structure
and the memory requirement of the
relevant extractor.
3. Maximum Number of Lines in a Data
Packet.
Upper-limit for the number of records
per data packet.
The default setting is 'Max. lines' =
100000.
The maximum main memory space
requirement per data packet is around
memory requirement = 2 * 'Max. lines' *
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
1000 Byte, meaning 200 MByte with the
default setting.
4. Frequency
The specified frequency determines the
number of IDocs that an Info IDoc is to
be sent to, or how many data IDocs an
Info Idoc describes.
Frequency 1 is set by default. This
means that an Info Idoc follows every
data Idoc. In general, you should select
a frequency between 5 and 10 but no
higher than 20. The bigger the data
IDoc packet, the lower the frequency
setting should be. In this way, when
you upload you can obtain information
on the respective data loading in
relatively short spaces of time.
With the help of every Info IDoc, you
can check the BW monitor to see if there
are any errors in the loading process. If
there are none, then the traffic light in
the monitor will be green. The Info
IDocs contain information such as
whether the respective data IDocs were
uploaded correctly.
5. Maximum number of parallel
processes for the data transfer.
An entry in this field is only relevant
from release 3.1I onwards. Enter a
number larger than 0. The maximum
number of parallel processes is set by
default at 2. The ideal parameter
selection depends on the configuration
of the application server, which you use
for transferring data. Goto transaction
OS06 and use Count value as a
maximum.
6. Batch job target system
Enter the name of the application server
on which the extraction job is to be
processed. To determine the name of
the application server, choose Tools ->
Administration -> Monitor -> System
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
monitoring -> Server. The name of the
application server is displayed in the
column Host name.
Save the entry.
9. Maintain the Flat File source system
settings. In BW, goto transaction
SPRO -> SAP Reference IMG ->
Business Information Warehouse ->
Links to Other Systems -> Maintain
Control Parameters for the data
transfer.
1. Maximum size of data packets
For data transfer into BW, the
individual data records are sent in
packets of variable size. You use these
parameters to control how large such a
data packet typically is. If no entry is
maintained, the data is transferred with
a standard setting of 10,000 kbyte per
data packet. The memory requirement
depends not only on the setting for data
packet size, but also on the width of the
transfer structure, and the memory
requirement of the relevant extractor.
2. Frequency
With the specified frequency, you
detemine after how many data IDocs an
Info IDoc is sent, or how many data
IDocs are described by an Info IDoc.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
The frequency is set to 1 by default. This
means that an Info IDoc follows every
data IDoc. Generally, choose a
frequency of between 5 and 10, but not
greater than 20.
The larger the packet size of a data IDoc,
the lower you must set the frequency. In
this way you ensure that, when loading
data, you receive information on the
current data load status at relatively
short intervals.
In the BW Monitor you can use each
Info IDoc to see whether the loading
process is running without errors. If this
is the case for all the data IDocs in an
Info IDoc, then the traffic light in the
Monitor is green. One of the things the
Info IDocs contain information on, is
whether the current data IDocs have
been loaded correctly.
Save the settings.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
10. Schedule the realignment run to be
executed periodically. In BW, goto
Tools -> Apply Hierarchy/Attribute
Change...
Choose Selection and then maintain the
start time. Select Save.
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HOW TO…CHECK YOUR BW SYSTEM BEFORE GO-LIVE
A variant can also be set up. Select
maintain variant icon.
Enter a variant and select Create.
Maintain the parameters. Select Enter.
Choose the Selection icon to schedule.
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